Circular Economy of Electrified and Lightweighted Vehicles: Economic and Environmental Benefits = Circular Economy of Electrified and Lightweighted Vehicles: Economic and Environmental Benefits

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Vehicle electrification and lightweighting are key approaches to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the ground transport sector. With a surging demand for electric vehicles (EVs), the International Energy Agency predicts that the production volume of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) will grow substantially during the next decade, from 160 to 1600-3200 GWh per year depending on scenarios. Since LIBs rely on critical materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, concerns arise about the resource availability and carbon footprint of these materials. Circular economy strategies including remanufacturing and recycling of EV batteries are deemed essential to resolve the issues. This presentation will discuss the circular economy of EV batteries from both economic and environmental perspectives. Remanufacturing and reusing retired EV batteries, i.e., second-life batteries (SLBs) provide potentially inexpensive and low-carbon energy storage for residential and utility-level applications especially when combined with renewable energy such as wind and solar power. Through research collaboration with universities, we found that the economic benefits largely depend on electricity pricing structure, cost of purchasing and refurbishing retired batteries and the performance of SLBs, while the carbon emission benefits are determined mainly by the electricity mix charging the SLBs. There are also key challenges remaining for future market growth of SLBs such as variable properties of retired batteries. Recycling end-of-life EV batteries is another crucial strategy to reduce mining and processing of battery materials, thus their cost and embedded carbon emissions. In this talk, the potential benefits from closing the loop of battery life cycle will be discussed based on recent research on battery recycling. Finally, Ford uses a large amount of aluminum in the body of pick-up trucks and SUVs to reduce fuel consumption and life cycle carbon footprint. A dynamic material flow analysis shows that if current trends continue the aluminum body scrap from end-of-life Ford Trucks and SUVs would reach approximately 125 and 250 kt/yr by 2035 and 2050, respectively. This scrap represents a unique opportunity for cost and CO₂ savings. This presentation will discuss Ford research towards closed-loop recycling of the upcoming wave of aluminium sheet scrap.